WASHINGTON - Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund today
endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) for
President and Vice President of the United States. Below is a statement
from the organization's president, Rodger Schlickeisen.

"John McCain's choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his
running mate confirmed that the only candidates we can truly count on
to protect our air, land and water are Senators Obama and Biden, and we
are proud to today offer our endorsement of the Obama-Biden ticket,"
said Schlickeisen.

"John McCain's record on the environment has been
extremely mediocre at best, often erratic, and clearly inferior to that
of either Obama or Biden. Now, his selection of Sarah Palin as his
running mate provides a very clear warning that - as difficult as it
may have been to contemplate earlier - a McCain-Palin administration
would likely be just as bad as the Bush-Cheney one on many major
environmental issues. So when it comes to sound environmental policy,
to conserving wilderness areas and wildlife, to standing up to the
special interests, there really is now no contest between the two
tickets. While the McCain-Palin campaign studiously avoids most
environmental issues and offers energy proposals based largely on Big
Oil's wish list, the Obama-Biden campaign is offering solid positions
in nearly every environmental area, including forward-looking energy
solutions.

Continued Schlickeisen, "When McCain picked the
notoriously anti-environmental Palin, he surrendered any reasonable
argument that his administration would make finding real solutions to
our nation's serious energy, conservation and environmental problems a
priority. The McCain-Palin ticket is now the overwhelming preference of
big oil companies that have made billions in profits, while average
Americans struggle to fill their tanks. That should tell voters who
care about the environment and our children's future all they need to
know."

Defenders Action Fund underscored its endorsement by
launching a new TV ad about Palin's environmental record, focusing on
her support for the aerial hunting of wolves, a cruel practice she
actively champions in Alaska. The program licenses private citizens to
fly airplanes and shoot wolves from the air or chase them to exhaustion
before landing and shooting them point blank. The gunners then sell the
pelts of the animals they kill for profit. The program also targets
grizzly and black bears. The ad, which will air in presidential swing
states, shows a new and extreme side to the Governor, which has yet to
be fully explored in the media.

"Sarah Palin not only condones the aerial hunting of
wolves and bears, she actively promotes it," continued Schlickeisen.
"She has even gone so far as to propose a bounty of $150 for every
severed left foreleg of a wolf the hunters can produce. Her promotion
of this ghastly and unscientific program - which she pursues while
simultaneously suing the federal government to eliminate protections
for the imperiled polar bear - offers voters a glimpse of her values
and character that is quite different from the picture carefully
crafted by the McCain-Palin campaign's professional speechwriters. It
should also provide voters with a good idea of what a McCain-Palin
administration's approach to stewardship of our nation's natural
resources would be like. Americans deserve to know about this real side
of Sarah Palin before they make up their minds about her.

"Put simply, if voters care at all about the
environment, about protecting our air, land, water and wildlife for
future generations, then they should look past the misleading rhetoric
of the McCain-Palin campaign and support Obama-Biden," concluded
Schlickeisen.